The Qur’an in its Historical Context
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Book Description
Providing commentary on the controversial revisionist school of Qur’anic studies, this book explores the origins, scholarship and development of the Qur'an. The collection of articles, each written by a distinguished author, treat very familiar passages of the Qur’an in an original manner, combining thorough philology, historical anthropology, and cultural history.
This book addresses in a critical fashion the hottest issues in recent works on the Quran. Among other things, the contributors analyze the controversial theories of Luxenberg regarding Syriac and the Quran, and in particular his argument that the term Hur refers not to virgins but to grapes.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Qur’anic Studies and its Controversies
Part One – Linguistic and Historic Evidence
Chapter 1 – The Qur’an in recent scholarship – challenges and desiderata – F. Donner
Chapter 2 – Epigraphy and the linguistic background to the Qur’an – R.Hoyland
Chapter 3 – Reconstructing the Qur’an: Emerging Insights – G.Bowering
Chapter 4 – Reconsidering the authorship of the Qur’an. Is the Qur’an partly the fruit of a progressive and collective work – C. Gilliot
Chapter 5 – Christian Lore and the Arabic Qur’an: The companions of the Cave in Surat al-Kahf and in Syriac Christian Tradition – S. Griffith
Part Two – The Religious Context of the Late Antique Near East
Chapter 6 – The Theological Christian Influence on the Qur’an: A reflection – S.K. Samir
Chapter 7 – Mary in the Qur’an: A re-examination of her Presentation – S. A. Mourad
Chapter 8 – The Legend of Alexander the Great in the Qur’an – K van Bladel
Chapter 9 – Beyond single words: ma’ida – shaytan – jibt and taghut. Mechanisms of translating the Bible into Ethiopic (Ge’ez) Bible and of Transmission into the Qur’anic text – M. Kropp
Chapter 10 – Nascent Islam in the 7th century Syriac sources – A. Saadi
Part three – Reflections on the Critical Study of the Qur’an
Chapter 11 – Syriac in the Qur’an: Classical Muslim Theories – A. Rippin
Chapter 12 – Notes on Medieval and Modern Emendations of the Qur’an – D. Stewart
Editor(s)
Biography
Gabriel Said Reynolds is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame, where he specializes in Qur'anic Studies.